December 24th
by tzaya
Summary: This isn't how Shizuo imagined he'd spend his day of Christmas Eve. (shizuo/izaya; fluff; ic)


**December 24** **th**

.

" _Isolating me like this again. Sure, sure."_

" _Enjoy the time while you can now. Eat hotpot! Winter vacation will be over soon enough, and I'll make sure to be the first person to greet everyone, hm?"_

Shizuo scrunched his nose up.

That _voice_ , and that scent were very familiar to him.

"I told you that you weren't allowed in Ikebukuro. How many times do I have to say that, _**huh**_?" a growl came almost immediately, as though he was conditioned to do so when his gaze fell on that familiar fur trimmed jacket.

That figure could've easily been missed if it wasn't for the out of place jacket Izaya always worn, as he sat in the park that was now covered in white, prodding at the ground like he had nothing better to do with his time.

[ Shizuo, it's not worth it! ]

Celty was trying to stop him again, but Shizuo already had his hands on the stairs of the slide, ready to rip it off the ground if Izaya decided to not comply— which actually happened so often he should've stopped expecting Izaya to actually stay out when he warns that bastard to.

It was snowing, and it was the night before Christmas, yet he had to deal with Izaya again.

People really should start thanking him for his hard work trying to keep pests away from the city.

"Get out of here before I crush you with this!"

[ Let's talk about this for a moment! ]

"I came here because it was so lonely at home," Izaya muttered under his breath, catching him (and Celty) off guard.

"Huh?"

[ ? ]

"Is that what you expected me to say? The truth is, I don't think Christmas is really that special. If you really treasure your family and loved ones, if they're really worthy, shouldn't you get together with them throughout the year as well? Why only pick Christmas? Ah, and I'm here to make sure that Shizu-chan isn't ruining anybody's night. I know he doesn't have anywhere to go since it's a human tradition, not monsters'."

"Aah? What the hell are you babbling about?"

It wasn't that Izaya's words didn't make sense, but rather, Shizuo didn't even want to attempt to understand it. Every time Izaya part his lips to say something, he felt as though his brain had already shut itself down so he couldn't process whatever bullshit Izaya was spewing out. That was probably a wise choice, since most of them were lies.

Shizuo quirked a brow when Izaya gave out a low whimper, trashing his legs about, making more of the white snow accumulate on his black plants.

It reminded him of a child whining for candy.

This isn't how Shizuo imagined he'd spend his day of Christmas Eve.

"What are you throwing a tantrum for?" his jaw was clenched, but hand slowly leaving the slide alone.

"…"

Izaya had his head hung low, fingers already grown cold and numb from the snow, but he still gathered a lump of snow. He couldn't remember how long had it been that he was there, or how he'd gotten to the park, but it was better than the suffocating silence back at his apartment, where he looked out of the window with distaste— knowing that everyone else were having fun _without him._

Oh, and it'd have been better if Mairu, Kururi, Shinra, Anri and Mikado didn't flaunt around the fact that they were going to have a countdown party with hotpot in the chatroom earlier. It was a piece of information Izaya didn't wish to know.

The ice felt coarse on his palm when he squished it before placing it on the ground.

"A snowman," he exhaled a half-suppressed laugh.

"What!?"

Even after being friends with Shizuo for years, Shizuo's loud voice still startled Celty, especially when it's dripping with anger. She panicked when Shizuo left the slide to make his way towards Izaya, dropping on his knees, and Celty almost thought that he was going to wrap those strong fingers around Izaya's throat, cut the air fro—

"That's now how you make one!"

[ _**Eh!?**_ He's taken interest? ]

Shizuo's response baffled Celty.

She was about to stop Shizuo from doing anything rash, but now…

Shizuo was making a medium-sized snowball, rolling it around until he deemed it was enough while he instructed Izaya to make a smaller one, which only added more to the shock factor since Izaya was actually doing it.

[ What… are those two doing…? Are they getting along right now!? I don't understand them sometimes. ]

"I have new information that I learnt earlier. Something sweet-toothed Shizu-chan might like. Since it's almost Christmas, there's a 60% off at Strawberry Shabu Café, especially for the milkshake deals."

"Really? I went there recently with Tom-san. _I wanted to get sweet potato pie milkshake, but didn't want to waste my money on something I might not like. But I might get that today, then… and maybe that new flavour, too…Hereshai?_ " (Shizuo was mumbling to himself at this point)

"Hershey's," Izaya corrected him.

"Huh? I don't know. It's just chocolate."

"It's different from other brands."

"Same shit, still chocolate."

The pair's snowman was coming along quite well, Celty might say (Izaya actually popped off two of the buttons from his jacket and made them the snowman's eyes, and Shizuo just stuck a stick as its mouth, which ended up making the snowman have a rather indifferent expression), and she'd have allowed them to continue if it wasn't for the text from Shinra she just received.

[ Shizuo. Shinra and everyone are waiting. ]

"Oh, yeah, I'm coming."

Shizuo dusted the snow off of his clothes to join Celty so they could leave for the party. He managed to steal a glance at Izaya before they set off, where Izaya was _finally_ looking at them, chin held up and nose red from the cold, crimson eyes striking a sharp stare that was almost a glare.

Shizuo didn't manage to take more than ten steps before he stopped.

"You go ahead, Celty."

[ What? Why? ]

"I'm going. To Strawberry Shabu café."

[ You're really going there? Well, I'll wait for you at the apartment, then. ]

"I think I'll come tomorrow night. I can't leave Izaya there. Who knows what he might do?"

[ Shizuo, calm down. Please don't fight. It's Christmas Eve! ]

"Oh… I'll just break his hands."

[ W- wait- ] she sputtered when her best friend once again didn't listen to her, turning around to head to the café. It was a shame that she couldn't keep an eye out for those two. Shinra would bombard her with messages and calls if she was anymore late. Plus, he'd worked hard for this party and she didn't want him to be sad if she wasn't there.

Celty knew how much her presence meant to Shinra.

[ I need to go... What do I do? ]

[ They were just making a small snowman. Well, that's okay, right? It'll be okay to leave them together today. ]

[ or at least I hope so. ]

.

.

"I left you for ten minutes and you've already destroyed Shiro-chan?"

Izaya averted his gaze from the crushed snowman on the ground (and some bits of it in his hand) to Shizuo, who stood before him as he sipped on what Izaya assumed to be the sweet potato pie milkshake Shizuo longed to try.

It made the corners of his lips curl into a grin.

Was it that easy to manipulate Heiwajima Shizuo?

" _Shiro-chan_ …? Shizu-chan is really bad at naming things,"

"…or are you secretly Shin-chan? Ne, Shizu-chan and Shin-chan seem pretty close. Ha! It'd explain how your brain works." _**Shin-chan (Shinnosuke Nohara) from the cartoon Crayon Shin-chan, whose dog is white, hence given the name Shiro._

"So who am I, then? Mm, since I dislike Shizu-chan… am I Cheetah Kawamura from the Rose class?"

"That'd suit you since you're a bully," Shizuo retorted.

"Eh? I think you're talking about yourself. When have I ever bullied anyone, hm? It's Shizu-chan who's acting more like a bully. That's why you'd be Gian if you were a Doraemon character!"

Izaya reached into the front pocket of his jacket to take his phone out, searching through the gallery before holding it up for Shizuo to see. It was a picture of the snowman they'd made, before Izaya crushed it, of course. There were quite a lot of pictures, all in a slightly different angle as if Izaya couldn't decide which one was the best.

"I took a picture for the memorial, but Shiro-chan was ugly, anyway."

"Are you drunk?"

"Hm hm," he chuckled at Shizuo's words, appearing a little tipsy as he outstretched a hand towards Shizuo.

Strangely, Shizuo took his hand and tugged him up back onto his feet (they were wobbly and sore from sitting too long).

"I went to eat oden at the konbini and had some sake! I would've preferred wine, but sake was fine. The girl gave it to me for free, anyway, since she said I was cute. But sadly, she's not my style."

Izaya didn't receive a response from Shizuo, instead Shizuo handed him a coffee tumbler after he'd finished his sweet potato pie milkshake and threw it away into the trashcan. Truthfully, Izaya had thought that the coffee tumbler was another drink Shizuo bought for himself, probably something sickeningly sweet like the milkshake he was drinking.

Though, Izaya wouldn't mind it, as it'd have been nice if Shizuo died of diabetes.

"For me?"

"It's bitter. Like your heart."

"Aha~! Shizu-chan's sense of humour never fails to amaze me."

"It's a fact," Shizuo sighed, leading Izaya to climb onto his back before he slipped his hands underneath Izaya's knees. He could feel Izaya's body trembling from laughter against his back and Izaya's puffs of breath which ghosted over his cheek. It really reeked of sake, but not much.

"What are you talking about? I always try to be sweet to Shizu-chan."

"Wait. Am I on Shizu-chan's back? Are my arms broken and Shizu-chan is feeling bad so he's doing this?"

"You just realized that now?"

"They _are_ broken?"

"No, idiot."

"Did I do something good?"

"Have you ever?"

"I gave you the information about Strawberry Shabu 60% off deals!"

Shizuo grimaced.

This was getting annoying.

Actually, why was he carrying Izaya, anyway? Why'd he even help Izaya? Who cares if he seemed pathetic in that park, sitting on the ground and playing with lumps of snow while he's drunk?

He almost released the hold he had on Izaya, well, he was going to until Izaya screamed when some of the hot coffee spilled on him when Shizuo was about to drop Izaya back onto the ground.

"Oh shit-" cursed Shizuo. He'd forgotten about the coffee.

"Mmn…"

Izaya was whimpering when Shizuo turned his head to have a look at the situation, wiping the coffee on his face with his sleeve, eyes brimming with tears (was it from the pain? Shizuo wondered), and soon he was sobbing out of nowhere.

Perhaps Izaya really was drunk.

"I don't need Shinra! I don't need anyone! I've always been fine on my own so I won't care at all… They'll come flocking to me like moths to the flame in the end, anyway…"

"…Is this what it's all about? You're not invited to the party?"

"I'm kidding," Izaya flashed him a grin.

"You're so drunk."

"I'm just tipsy, of course! As an informant, I need to take care of myself so I'll be sober enough in case someone decides to kill me, for example, _Shizu-chan_."

"I wish I'd have killed you."

"Then you wouldn't have known about the 60% deals!"

"Is that the only good thing you've done for me?"

There was a moment of silence when Izaya paused, and Shizuo briefly wondered if he'd passed out since he no longer had his eyes on Izaya but instead the road before him, walking with steady steps. The road was empty and dark since most people gathered at the big city where the malls are at, or at their houses, with their loved ones.

What about _him_? He was with **Orihara Izaya** of all people.

"…I'm jealous,"

And Shizuo then felt Izaya bury his face into his shoulder, words muffled and his breath shaky but Shizuo could still make out what Izaya was saying, only he didn't see the pitiful expression on his nemesis's face, brows knitted and the smile he had on earlier was now upside down.

"I want someone who's by my side, to laugh and share warm food with, too."


End file.
